AuthorTopic: Alice Grove MCDLT - August 2016 (Read 14129 times)

This next month could prove quite interesting since half the battle is finding the rocket ship. The rest is upgrading and piloting it. That could all happen rather quickly or there could be some time for character growth. These archaeophiles may be eager to find relics, but they may oppose just smashing their way through so the process could take a few weeks. They might like Gavia more than Ardent which might lift her spirits while making him jealous and we could get some additional exposition from Alice and Sedna about what happened after the blink.

I'm voting that they're arguing about how to get in the bunker when Gavia and Ardent turn around a corner and find a door. It takes them a couple of strips to get the 'adults' to stop arguing long enough so that they can communicate this to them.

Eventually I'm going to get tired of Gavia's attitude. She followed Ardent down of her own free will. Also, if Ardent hadn't alerted everyone to the fact that Nightwalker had taken Gavia, I suspect it would have just dropped her after taking her nanotech, and she would have been killed by the fall. Finally, Alice is right: there's no way Ardent could have known that this would happen.

Gavia should come to terms with her own role in creating the current situation, and stop blaming everything on Ardent.

Ooh, yeah. Gavia is treading the path to the Dark Side her and then some! Bitter, angry and full of good reasons (at least in her own mind) about why everything is someone else's fault. In her defence, she has suffered although she is certainly overestimating the degree to which Ardent is personally responsible. Indeed, I suspect that the biggest trial for her will be having to accept who is really responsible (likely the Praeses).

Until then... well, I wouldn't be surprised if Ardent got in trouble and she turned her back on him, at least at first.

Much of her anger at Ardent expressed here is not over blaming him. But the fact that he just skates through everything without suffering very much and with very little effort on his part. Yes, it's unfair right now because he's trying to take responsibility for what happened to Gavia and fix it. But right now Gavia's not having any of it. What seemed to her was going to be a simple task of going to retrieve her brother started with her being beaten half to death by Alice, abandoned by the Prases and trapped on Earth. Her world view has been seriously compromised by what she's learned from Alice, she's being dragged from place to place, endangered in so many ways. She's had her body and mind invaded and violated by the Nightwalker and her nanotech abilities stolen from her. Through all this, Ardent has been acting like it's a vacation. He's happy go lucky. She's bitter. And he's the only target for her anger that she has.

The only way the magic upgrade to the ancient rocket has the slightest chance of sending the kids home, is if the Praeses planned it to in advance. Yet they're all just assuming that's what it will do.

Ardent thinks his 'magic powers' will allow him to make a rocket that just happens to be able to navigate its way back to the right orbital habitat. (not just to any of the hundreds of them.) If he's wrong, they're probably both stranded on Earth or on the wrong habitat, or dead, but if he's right (and he likely is), then they're both just acting a predetermined role set out by the Praeses. In that case, he should be wondering if that's a good thing or, as Alice suggests, the precursor to a horrific war.

Gavia thinks his 'magic powers' will likely work too, and again, she really should be thinking way beyond what that means to her relationship with Ardent and her personal convenience. But she's stuck in bitter/angry mode and can't see past the end of her nose to the obvious conclusion that she's a pawn in a scary interplanetary conflict. None of this is hidden from her or beyond her understanding -- she is just too self-centered to care.

Now Alice -- she too may be missing 'what comes next'. She's totally aware of the Praeses and that Ardent and Gavia are there to manipulate Earth and probably even herself. Yet she risks her life and her town's welfare (leaving them alone for weeks) on a quest to do, it now seems, exactly what the Praeses expects her to. Shouldn't this be intensely worrying to her? Apparently she was originally motivated by a combination of kindness ("help the strangers home") and paranoia ("keep the sinister nanotech upgrades away"). Now that her paranoia is precisely what she's counting on to solve the quest, she fails to see the irony. If her paranoia is wrong, she's dooming the kids to wander in space until they run out of oxygen (so much for the kindness motivation). If it's right, she's just doing what the Praeses expects (and she's doing exactly what the enemy wants). She's just as much a pawn as Ardent here, and she's too smart for that.

Much of her anger at Ardent expressed here is not over blaming him. But the fact that he just skates through everything without suffering very much and with very little effort on his part. Yes, it's unfair right now because he's trying to take responsibility for what happened to Gavia and fix it. But right now Gavia's not having any of it. What seemed to her was going to be a simple task of going to retrieve her brother started with her being beaten half to death by Alice, abandoned by the Prases and trapped on Earth. Her world view has been seriously compromised by what she's learned from Alice, she's being dragged from place to place, endangered in so many ways. She's had her body and mind invaded and violated by the Nightwalker and her nanotech abilities stolen from her. Through all this, Ardent has been acting like it's a vacation. He's happy go lucky. She's bitter. And he's the only target for her anger that she has.

Exactly. I think deep down Gavia is questioning the beings she's perceived as parents and possibly gods, but it's all so unthinkable that she lashes out at the person whose actions started the current chain of events. And while Ardent does take responsibility and is trying to make things right he really hasn't suffered for any of his actions. Gavia seems like someone who has played by the rules her whole life and it's beginning to seem like it was all for nothing. So on top of everything else she's suffered she now may be going through an existential crisis.

Gavia seems like a workaholic so perhaps helping dig into the bunker will give her something to keep her mind occupied as well as make her popular among the archaeophiles. Ardent mentioned that she doesn't have any friends back at the habitat so maybe she'll fit in better with them.

I think that it's more likely that she means that Ardent and his 'special abilities' will then be the Praeses' problem, not hers. She'll be able to try to get back to her life and forget that she has a brother.

The way she ended that conversation ("Then I can be rid of you") seems to insinuate that her plan is to send Ardent back to the habitat - without her.

Is it possible that she thinks/knows that she can no longer be or exist on the space habitat, without her nanotech?

More likely she just doesn't want anything further to do with him after they get back to orbit. Assuming they are able to find a way to return, they'll be doing it together. But after that, it'll be bye bye.

I don't think Gavia has any desire to stay on Earth. When asked to describe the orbital habitats, she says they are "better than here."

If they have the ability to give someone nanotech abilities in orbit, then surely they can do it again if Gavia gets back up there. or reverse whatever the Nightwalker did. In any case, Having nanotech seems optional, not a requirement. Ardent didn't have any before he was mined with them as a booby trap. And as Gavia says, she's not baseline. While she's putting in the effort to learn how to survive without her tech, she's also not making any attempts to interact with the locals. In the end, I think she just wants to go home and put the whole ordeal behind her. And never have to look at Ardent's face again.

Yes, she's only down there because Ardent went down and she followed to bring him back, but being stuck there isn't Ardents fault, the Praeses have, for some reason, abandoned them there.

Yes, she lost her Nanotech abilities because the Night Walker stole it and used it for whatever purpose, but Ardent didn't call the Night Walker to do it, nor, I believe, would he want that to happen to her. He's just not that kind of a guy.

Someone needs to give Gavia a good slap upside the head and a dressing down. She's behaving like a spoiled brat.

Let's look at this. Her brother does something stupid. She is sent to bring him back. In the process, she was beat badly. To say she handled the situation badly is an understatement. She figured she would go down there, make a big scene, grab Ardent and zoom away. Instead she gets beat nearly to death and abandoned in a foreign country by her trusted elders. Ardent loves it, he wanted to come here. Gavia just wants to go home. She tries to adjust some to a completely foreign environment only to have that disrupted once again by Ardent. First getting them lost in the woods, then with his upgrade power. This leads to another disruption in her life when Alice tries to kill Ardent, then decides to take them on a road trip. But at least the goal of that could lead to the kids returning home. Then she gets attacked again. Mentally and physically violated, nearly killed and with her agency stripped from her, then left in a coma for a short while. She's got damn good reason to be mad at Argent and the Prases. But Ardent is the one who is here.

So in short.. People are saying that the girl who has suffered months of fear, physical attacks, abandonment, having her world ideological view turned upside down, suffered what is pretty darn close to rape which left her nearly dead and without her primary means of interacting with the world around her.. Yet is still focusing on continuing and learning about how to survive and get by in a world she doesn't even want to be on. And people are saying she's just being bratty and needs to be slapped. No, she needs some serious crisis help. She was never the most pleasant person, this is true. But she's been through far more trauma than the rest of the cast combined since the comic started.

And if she did not she'd be wracked with guilt for doing nothing. Just as Ardent would be if he let Gavia be killed by Alice or the Nightwalker. Only a sociopath would leave their siblings to die so that's hardly a free choice.

"Wracked with guilt" doesn't jibe at all with my impression of Gavia at the start of the comic. Remember, at that time she was operating under the assumption that both of them could get transport back to orbit just by asking. I don't think she was worried about Ardent so much as pissed at him that he'd left, and so she was going to take it on herself to go grab him by his pointed ears and drag him back up, in as humiliating a fashion as possible. She didn't think he was in danger; she thought he was being naughty, and, praeses pet that she was, she'd teach him a lesson. She was shocked and horrified to discover she was marooned on Earth with him. Even with nanotech.

"Wracked with guilt" doesn't jibe at all with my impression of Gavia at the start of the comic. Remember, at that time she was operating under the assumption that both of them could get transport back to orbit just by asking. I don't think she was worried about Ardent so much as pissed at him that he'd left, and so she was going to take it on herself to go grab him by his pointed ears and drag him back up, in as humiliating a fashion as possible. She didn't think he was in danger; she thought he was being naughty, and, praeses pet that she was, she'd teach him a lesson. She was shocked and horrified to discover she was marooned on Earth with him. Even with nanotech.

I'm referring to her doing nothing at all after hearing that Ardent went to Earth. She could've decided that it would serve him right if his wanderlust lead to banishment, but she'd probably spend the rest of her life worried about what happened to her brother so she went off to retrieve him. Moreover, after the near fatal beat down she got from Alice she was still willing to risk defending him when Alice came to the conclusion that the only way to stop whatever the Praeses had planned was to kill Ardent. She cares about him for all the good that has done so is it really so much that she should lash out at him since his actions have ultimately lead to where she is right now. And do keep in mind she only woke up from that coma a few days ago. She is still processing a lot and taking it a lot better than most of us.

Yes, she's only down there because Ardent went down and she followed to bring him back, but being stuck there isn't Ardents fault, the Praeses have, for some reason, abandoned them there.

Yes, she lost her Nanotech abilities because the Night Walker stole it and used it for whatever purpose, but Ardent didn't call the Night Walker to do it, nor, I believe, would he want that to happen to her. He's just not that kind of a guy.

Someone needs to give Gavia a good slap upside the head and a dressing down. She's behaving like a spoiled brat.

Ardent may not be completely to blame for everything that happened, but his actions have had consequences for her more than him and aside from being apologetic about the whole thing has he displayed any evidence to make her think he's changed? If he is a danger to her well being it makes perfect sense to have nothing more to do with him once they return.

While I think Ardent might be right about her having fun with the archaeophiles or at least see if they are worth spending time with his judgment of things really isn't the best so I cannot fault her for preferring to remain where she is. A brat would be looking for attention and making everyone feel sorry for her. She's just keeping to herself and not bothering anybody except the one person who won't leave her alone and has the greatest reason to dislike. She's an introvert who shouldn't have to join the crowd because it's the popular thing to do. For someone with the patron saint of misery chicks as an avatar I would think you'd be more sympathetic.

She's slowly been stripped of her 'spoiled' credentials since arriving, but is still stubbornly holding on to the 'brat'.

Who among us isn't? Seriously we live our first world lives arguing about fictional characters. If we were suddenly flung into a backward foreign world with no money or technology because of a loved one's carelessness we probably wouldn't be nearly as pleasant about it.

I guess what I've been waiting for/expecting is to see Ardent forced into some kind of character development. I think he's close to the edge now seeing for real how broken his relationship with Gavs is.

Now I think what he "needs" is for someone to seriously not have his back and for him to face a Serious Consequence alone, no training wheels, no bouncy net underneath--I suspect that's what this comic might be signalling is coming.

I guess what I've been waiting for/expecting is to see Ardent forced into some kind of character development. I think he's close to the edge now seeing for real how broken his relationship with Gavs is.

Now I think what he "needs" is for someone to seriously not have his back and for him to face a Serious Consequence alone, no training wheels, no bouncy net underneath--I suspect that's what this comic might be signalling is coming.

Here's hoping for that. I don't hate Ardent, but I can understand how his previous reckless behavior has driven a wedge between him and Gavia. Even if she is restored completely if Ardent learns nothing from this it's only a matter of time before he'll get himself into trouble again and she'd have to seriously consider coming to his aid if at all.

And this would be another reason why Gavia hates Ardent. Even if he never intended for the Nightwalker to attack her it did and without her nanotechnology she's forced to experience things through her natural senses which is his philosophical outlook. No one likes having someone's philosophy forced on them. Perhaps it's also her reason to refuse to do anything else, but survive as her way of defying his point of view.

Also, Jeph has stated pretty plainly that Alice has to take a back seat to QC and his travel schedule, so while I'm jonesing for a new AG, I get that updates will be sporadic, especially during convention season

Above any sibling rivalry, at this point, he's a walking, talking reminder of what she has lost. It's one thing to be "normal" all of one's life. If one has super-powers (which the nanos basically are) and then loses them, it's going to be a heavy blow. Having to be constantly reminded of that isn't exactly going to make the loon a happy person.

Also, unlike Sven, Ardent is basically an innocent.

Logged

"A person who may charitably described as 'not entirely a waste of resources, but mostly so.'" -- Momo

"Pray that there's intelligent life somewhere out in space, 'Cause there's bugger all down here on Earth!" -- The Pythons

Does anyone else see a bit of Dora's attitude towards Sven in Gavia's reaction to Ardent? A general loathing born of envy at the ease with which the male gets by socially?

There's probably a feminist rant in there somewhere, but I'm tired.

Somewhat, but I don't think gender has anything to do with it. If Gavia was a boy I think the resentment would still exist on account of all the misfortune suffered while Ardent has everything going for him. I agree that Sven's life seemed to be fairly free of challenges, however, Dora believed Sven was favored above her which may be a biased sibling perspective. The straw that broke the camel's back in their relationship was his love and leave them attitude with her friends. Ardent's a libertine, but I don't think he's ever done the same since Gavia doesn't have any friends anyway.

Hmmm... I wonder if we have finally met the Big Bad? One of the worst sort - the one who causes harm by a combination of selfish desire and ignorance.

He certainly looks sinister, however he could also be leading another faction that doesn't have Ardent and Gavia's best interests in mind, but opposes whatever the Praeses are planning. He's certainly well organized if he can gather all that intelligence, but there was nothing mentioned about Alice and Sedna. Either that's a critical bit of missing intelligence or they already know and he isn't concerned so either he's extremely arrogant or perhaps he's just like Alice except his dominion is more than just a small town. Given the view from his window it looks like his office overlooks a partially submerged city.

Somewhere indeed. Danielle may already be here. And @damnyouwillis too.

Thank you for sharing. It's been a few years since I've seen Corsetto. I thought she still had that pixie cut. Maybe the big dude behind our mystery man resembles Milholland, but we can't see his face yet.

One bit of intelligence I doubt they have is Gavia's current state which may work to the group's advantage. Even if this mystery man is another immortal he'd still be up against two of his kind although he might be able to buy off Sedna with weapons. However, Alice would probably be more than a match for him and seeing as how his minions have been secretly gathering intelligence they are likely to act stealthily instead of just outright attacking. As such Ardent would be easy enough to kidnap, but if they're looking for a pale white girl with red eyes that floats they may look right past her.